The restrictions imposed with regard to available installation space in vehicles in recent years have necessitated a plurality of heat exchangers (e.g., a condenser and a radiator) fulfilling different functions to be integrated. Examples of such integrated heat exchangers include the structure disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. H 2-14582.
In this integrated heat exchanger, a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger are provided in parallel and the fins of these heat exchangers are integrated to reduce the air flow resistance and the number of assembly steps. In addition, heat transfer prevention louvers are formed in the areas of the integrated fins located between the tubes of the first heat exchanger and the tubes of the second heat exchanger to lessen the degree to which heat exchangers affect the temperature of other heat exchangers.
The publication also discloses that the heat transfer prevention louvers formed at the fins are formed in a shape roughly identical to that of normal louvers located between the tubes of the heat exchangers and that the heat transfer prevention louvers are constituted of symmetrical louver groups, each having louvers distanced from the louvers of other groups, formed between a tube of the first heat exchanger and the corresponding tube in the second heat exchanger (see FIG. 1 of the publication).
However, it becomes difficult to manufacture the parallel integrated heat exchanger described above adopting a structure in which the heat transfer prevention louvers are symmetrically formed over a distance between the tubes of one of the plurality of heat exchangers adjacent to each other and the tubes of the heat exchangers if the heat exchangers installed in parallel need to be set closer to each other. In addition, it is not designed by taking into consideration how heat transfer prevention louvers, which will effectively prevent heat transfer, may be manufactured or how the process of manufacturing the louvers themselves is to be facilitated and, therefore, it cannot easily be put into practical use.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a parallel integrated heat exchanger having a plurality of heat exchangers set in parallel and fins of adjacent heat exchangers integrated, which facilitates the production of heat transfer prevention louvers by forming the heat prevention transfer louvers in a particular manner and also achieves a full heat transfer prevention effect regardless of the distance between the parallel-set heat exchangers.